Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lahore (Agenzia Fides) – "In the area of medical care, the overall picture is improving, although there are still many refugees in remote areas who remain excluded from aid and exposed to diseases. In their work, Caritas receives great assistance from religious sisters. There are many religious congregations working at the forefront in caring for the sick." This is what Fides was told by Anila Gill, Executive Secretary of Caritas Pakistan, in an update on the situation of humanitarian aid reaching refugees.
Anila Gill told Fides: "As regards the work of Caritas Pakistan, we take care of the health status of more than 5,000 families in 7 dioceses in the country. I would like to point out the tireless efforts of hundreds of nuns who are working in medical care. Thanks to them, thousands of refugees of all religions receive medical care. The most vulnerable are women and children. We are doing everything we can and we have begun to see the first positive results. However, there are still many displaced people who are cut off from all assistance. We cannot stop working."
Epidemics are often regarded by experts as "inevitable" when dealing with large-scale humanitarian disasters, such as the floods that affect over 20 million people in Pakistan. In this regard, the government has issued reassuring news, claiming that thanks to the joint action of private governmental medical facilities, "post-flood health care has been a success." So much so that, for now, they have managed to avoid epidemics of malaria and cholera in the Province of Punjab. "There are cases of scabies and gastroenteritis, but the situation is under control," said Muhammad Saeed Amir, director of the Health Department of Muzaffargarh, in Punjab.
Thanks to a fruitful collaboration between public and private NGOs, international and local, a widespread vaccination campaign has been launched that seems to have given good results. In the district of Muzaffargarh alone, 80 medical teams have treated over 600,000 patients. Those working on this campaign include the World Health Organization, Unicef, Rabta Aalam-e-Islami, Muslim Aid, Merlin (Australia), MSF-France, ADRA (United Kingdom), Islamic Help (United Kingdom), and medical teams from Germany, Japan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Australia.
The effort is also supported by the army, which has introduced high standards in the health sector, working with over 40 medical camps in affected areas, treating 5,000 patients a week. Military veterinarians have also vaccinated more than 65 million head of cattle in southern Punjab.
An important contribution of volunteers and medical supplies also has also come from professional associations such as Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA), and the Famid Foundation. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 02/10/2010)
